DA: Violent history between Joseph and victim

BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- New details emerged Thursday about the violent past between UMaine football player Zedric Joseph and his ex-girlfriend, Vashti Laurore. Police in West Palm Beach, Florida have charged Joseph with murder and aggravated assault. They say he attacked Laurore and 23-year-old Richardy Chery last week. Chery died of his injuries and Laurore is still recovering.

Laurore's mother, speaking with the NBC affiliate in West Palm Beach, said it was Joseph's jealousy that led to the fatal incident last weekend.

She said Joseph became angry when he arrived at the apartment to visit his child and there was another man there. According to Laurore's mother, Joseph grabbed a knife from the sink and stabbed both her daughter and that man, Ricardy Chery.

Joseph is being held in Georgia, where police arrested him. He is awaiting extradition back to Florida.

Penobscot County District Attorney Chris Almy said this was not the first sign of trouble between Laurore and Joseph.

In 2012, Laurore went to the Orono Police Department, claiming Joseph assaulted her. The police report said Joseph choked and slapped her because he thought she was cheating on him. Four charges were brought against Joseph, but prosecutors said Laurore changed her story. The prosecutor droppped the charges and Joseph pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge.

Almy said, "It's typical in a lot of cases like this. Sometimes the facts sort of evolve in such a way that on one day the victim is telling us X and then sometimes, for whatever reason, she tells us something different happened. I'm not faulting her for that because there may have been a lot of different reasons. She may have been scared."